New Publications [pp. 281-288]

New Publications.
courses utterly beyond the comprehension of the maiden's papa, but which she
understood perfectly.
We are led to wonder, in our republican ignorance, if people in court life
converse and act in the stilted, theatrical manner in which they are here represented; every person being what in
these days would be called "highly organized." In this particular, and in the
tedium and repetition of court detail, we
were forcibly reminded of the voluminous works of Miss Miihlbach, with this
difference, that On the Heights makes
no historical claim.
There are, however, very many sweet
touches of nature in the book, gems of
thought; and now and then a rare pearl
of good counsel, near which, in reading,
one involuntarily draws a pencil - line,
that they may be found again. Maternal love is beautifully portrayed, both in
high and low life, in the queen, and in
the foster-mother of the prince.
The author evidently knows but little
of the Catholic faith, and less of its results, since the life of the religieuse is
continually referred to (with a slight
sneer) as "a lfe in which nothzing
hafifiens."
WVe close this volume with a sensation of weary sadness; there seems to
run through its pages "the cry of that
deep-rooted pain, under which, thoughtful men are languishing," like the distant tones of an AEolian harp wafted on
the night breezes. There is a reaching
forth in these mystic yearnings for the
good, the true, and the enduring, which
the priceless gift of faith alone brings to
the weary and heavy-laden, in submission to God's appointed teacher, the
church.
The mechanical execution of the work
is excellent, the type clear, and the
double - columed pages furnish a vast
amount of reading in a small compass.
CHEMICAL CHANGE IN THE EUCHA RIST. From the French of Jacques
Abbadie. By John W. Hamersley,
A.M.
Jacques Abbadie was born in Switzerland, in i654; "studied at Saumur,"
writes Mr. Hainersley in his preface,
" was doctorated at Sedan, and installed
pastor of the French (Huguenot) Churchl
of Berlin, at the instance of Count d'Espence."
He left his pastorate, became chaplain to Marshal Schomberg, and came
to England with William of Orange in
i688. After Schomberg's death, in the
battle of the Boyne, Abbadie was presented to the deanery of Killaloo, in
Ireland, where he died in 1727.
His book against transubstantiation
in the Eucharist, is such as might be
expected from the literary leisure, taste,
learning, and piety of one of Schomberg's exemplary camp-followers. WVe
read the book with the hope of finding
some objection in it worth a refutation;
but we have found nothing but the stale,
oft- refuted arguments of Protestants
against the real presence. Led by the
title of the work, Chemical Change in the
Eucharist, we expected to meet some
profound chemical discoveries that
should at least seem to contradict
Catholic belief. But there is not one.
There is not even an allusion which
would show the author to be conversant with chemistry or any of the natural
sciences. Abbadie argues against the
Catholic exegesis of the sixth chapter
of St. John, and against the words of
consecration, "This is my body," in the
usual Protestant way. He insists that
Christ's words are to be taken figuratively; while Catholics claim that they
are to be taken literally.
One general answer will do for all
heterodox interpretations of Scripture
on this and on other points. If Protestants urge that private reason is the
supreme judge of Scripture, how can
they deny to Catholics the right to use
it? And if the private judgment of
Catholics finds that Christ spoke of a
real presence in the Holy Eucharist,
and that his words are to be taken in
their plain, literal signification, why
should Protestants object? In point
of fact, Catholics do admit private judgment, properly understood, in the interpretation of Scripture. They affirm that
the interpretation of the church or of
the fathers is identical with the rational
exegesis. The interpretation of Protes
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